1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus mounted externally on a shoe to allow the wearer to have increased comfort and better support; in particular, this invention relates to an apparatus, method, and system to increase comfort and support in athletic shoes.
2. State of the Art
There are many types of shoes used in athletic endeavors. Each shoe provides as much support for the foot as possible in order to increase the useful life of the shoe and increase athletic performance. However, to get the best possible performance while protecting the foot against injury, some sort of additional support may be used by the athlete.
This problem may best be described with hockey skates. Leather lace-up hockey skates are inferior to the support offered by plastic molded recreational skates, but exceptional for the comfort and feel hockey players demand. Because of this unwavering demand for comfort, skate manufactures are limited in the rigidity enhancements that can be build into a hockey skate. As the leather "gives" through continual use, the support the skate gives the foot, the comfort level, and the skating ability of the skate decreases. As a result, even the highest quality hockey skate breaks down causing decreased foot stability and loss of confidence in skating performance. Many hockey players resort to taping the skate at the ankles to restore support, which limits essential forward flexion and does nothing to increase effective heel lock.
Therefore, there is a need for better support and comfort in skates which the present invention provides. The present invention is to be used as support for all types of shoes, boots, and skates ranging from basketball, hiking, tennis, and snowboard boots, to ice, and in-line hockey skates. This invention provides for a biometric crisscross pattern foot support system which provides improved athletic performance, extends the shoe's useful life, and provides for the ease of "breaking in" new shoes. Moreover, the crisscross pattern inherently facilitates forward flexion while markedly increases effective heel lock and overall stability.